West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-09-09
THE B. & o. RAILROAD.

To st. Louis ana 10 OhlcdSOs hdS
been transferred to n syndicate OF
Wall street and London bankers. 1t
seems incredible that the drift OF an
event of this character should be so
little understood by the general pub
lie. That great highway OF travel
should be in private custody Is, IN
itself. a fact full of danger to the
common veal. but for such a great
artery of commerce to be in the Gus
tody of syndicate of distant bank
ers is fact which, were its signiti-
canoe comprehended by the body of
the people, would fill them with
alarm.
1t is not possible within tho space
and time now at our command Ito
bring this matter home to the under
standing of persons who are not &C
quainted with the methods of mod
ern railroad management, especially
when such powerful influences have
been so long at work to mislead
opinion and to confuse the subject,
but perhaps a brief reference to one
or two facts may set thoughtful men
to thinking.
The Pennsylvania Company has
a monopoly of the entire Western
and Southern commerce, moving by
rail, through Philadelphia to New
York. This Western and Southern
business is so enormous that its
magnitude can scarcely be cOmpre-
hended.-it is the trade and travel
by rail of more than twenty-five mil
lions of people. In order to compete
for this vast traffic, now in the hands
of single corporation, the b. u U.
endeavored to construct a rival line
from Baltimore to New York city
and for many years past the Penn
sylvania Company has concentrated
all of its vast political and moneyed
influences to prevent a new road
from being built. Finally by an inn
mense expenditure the B. d o. sue
ceeded in removing many of the OBJ
stacles which had been unlawfully
interposed and, having reached
Philadelphia, its entrance into New
York seemed assured. ThereupOn
this artery of commerce passes into
the control of q syndicate of Wall
street and London bankers whose
relations with the Pennsylvania
Company will enable it to direct the
policy of that corporation. And this
syndicate of bankers have announced
that a contract has been made
whereby it is agreed:
I. That new road between Philadel-
phia and New York shall not be built.
This means that these corpora
tions assume that when combined
they can certainly prevent the Leg
islatures of the different States from
granting additional railroad char
tiers. In other words this contract
is based on the assumption that
railroad corporations will control
politics. 1t is based on the assump-
ton that they will be able to pre-
vent the people from voting intelli-
gently.
9. That the b. Il o. will maintain rates.
An agreement Ito maintain rates
means simply that these corpora
tions will act in concert to eXtort
from the public excessive charges.
8. That the b. & o. shall be managed
by persons selected by the syndicate.
This means that the great high
wav will be in the hands OF the
agents of this association of bank
ers, who have no thought except
how their control of this artery of
commerce may be used to obtain the
most money from the public. The
welfare of the country is to be sub
ordinated to the cupidity Of Wall
street and London bankers.
When this deal is cOnsummated,
the \. Y. Central and the Pennsyl-
yania road will he the only two
great Eastern Trunk Lines, and the
next step viii, in all probability, be
a consolidation Of these two corpora
tions.
The B. Il o. and the L. s. express
companies have already combined,
and it is already accepted in the best
informed circles as an assured fact
that the Is. & o. telegraph will pass
into the hands of Jay Gould, and
the entire telegraph system of sixty
millions of people will constitute one